In the Dark
by Thisisnataliexd
Summary: Things are getting darker. A series of fires are springing up all over the globe, and to the normal bystander apparently all unconnected. Except for the fact the Shield is involved, and is this time the victim. Somehow, Tony is involved in the fire starting. Is this just someone messing around, or is there a bigger game afoot?
1. Chapter 1

_WHACK_. That hurt. That hurt a lot. A lot more than it should have done. Yet the pain was still coming. His jaw was aching slowly as he found his red palmed hands from the amount of failed punches aimed at his attacker and resulted in him falling over. Gradually, he pulled himself up onto all fours, wheezing slightly. No, he thought, I'm not going to be shown as weak. With a small voice at the back of his brain, he pushed himself into a standing position, only to be kicked back down again. Having enough time however to do something about falling over (maybe he was at last starting to learn), he stopped himself by kicking out his leg firmly, spinning round on the ball of his left foot, and kicked hard into the other persons nose. He heard it crunch, and he grimaced, closing his eyes as he did so

"What the-?" The person yelled, disbelievingly. Tony took in the scene.

In front of him stood Steve, wearing grey jogging bottoms, and a white top that was currently being caked in thick, red blood as it trickled down his chin.

"Shit. Sorry." He said apologetically, running past Steve and grabbing the tissues that were usually used for when he got beaten up while sparring. Returning with a wad of tissue, he handed them to Steve.

"You're getting better, I'll give you that one." Steve said, but there was no sign of him trying to make Tony feel less badly about breaking his nose. Tony smiled anyway. "Perhaps it's because we weren't doing that particular style of Karate? What was that anyway?" He asked. It was true, they were suppose to be doing Karate, and of course, he'd panicked and created his new routine.

"It's called thinking on your feet." Tony replied wisely. Steve raised his eyebrow. "Do you want me to go and get Bruce?".

"No, it's fine. I can handle nose bleeds." Steve said, and Tony shrugged, pulling a towel over his shoulders before walking out of the gym, leaving a bloodied up and grimacing Steve staring at his back.

The fact of the matter was, he was just crap at any form of fighting. When he was in his suit, yeah, that was fine. He was the ultimate badass (if he said so himself), and naturally, he could throw some good punches and kicks. Hadn't he just proven that? He could do some. Not all, but some. It required memorising routines and putting them into play, but he knew that it is always impossible to plan out an attack. Especially when he's involved.

Just the other day he'd gotten into another argument with Steve, in the middle of a mission. It wasn't a particularly tough mission either, and it wasn't like the orders had to be followed exactly. No ones lives were at stake. Yet, by knocking out the wrong guard, some how he'd jeopardised the mission. No one was injured (except some guards and an ant he'd accidentally stepped on while getting on the Helicarrier). Steve was just picking out faults. Again.

Another example of this was when he and Bruce went on a more... Civil mission together. All they had had to do was talk down this man. It was easy. The mission was assigned purely to Bruce, because apparently he could 'calm people down'. Tony snorted when he remembered that particular comment from Fury. That guy was an idiot. He himself had just gone along because he was bored; and Pepper had locked him out of the lab. Now that he looked back on it, it was kind of funny. Getting ranted at by Fury, then Steve, then Fury again, and then Steve again, before Coulson decided to come to his aid.

The man they were attempting to calm down was Henry Grough. He was a scientist who went a bit wacko and was now attempting to enlarge mice into the size of a car. Shield had him on the list for potential threats, obviously, but then he succeeded and a small town in Albuquerque was left in shock after a massive mouse raided the local cheese shop. Completely stereo-typical of course, like something out of a bad horror movie. However, before any more damage had been done Bruce was sent to talk to him. Simple enough. Tony messed it all up however by putting his sandwich in the machine. That was it, that was all he did. But apparently that was being 'silly and childish and irresponsible'. It made one heck of a sandwich though.

"Bruce," Tony called as he walked into the kitchen, striding quickly over to the fridge and pulling out a Pepsi Max, "Steve's got a broken nose. I think. All I know is that it's bleeding."

Tony watched as Bruce folded his newspaper calmly, walked over to a kitchen cupboard, pulled out a first aid box, and began heading to the sparring room.

The problem was it was all just so casual. There was nothing new. Nothing at all. No one was talking in the tower, and people were becoming distant. He felt that the only people who he could really talk to were Pepper, Rhodes, and Clint. Bruce was slowly disappearing. But that was it. They had all grown so accustom to each other that every day was the same. He knew now not to mess with Thor's PopTarts, or put on a film at 6 in the morning on full surround sound otherwise Natasha would flatten him. Tony still couldn't work out how she'd heard it. He was on his and Peppers floor, she was on hers and Clint's. Two floors apart from each other. He supposed that that was just what happened when you become a spy. You get epic hearing.

"Sir, may I inform you that Agent Coulson is here." Jarvis spoke suddenly, rudely awakening Tony from his sleep of thoughts. Tony waved his hand in a non complacent manner and out of the corner of his eye watched as the man supporting a suit walked in.

"Mr Stark." Coulson said, nodding curtly as he passed. Tony nodded back and took a large swig from his Pepsi. He could feel the bubbles cascade down his throat. Tony's eyes followed Coulson all the way to the door leading out of the kitchen until he had vanished. That all but confirmed his theory about everything being so boring. Everything was always the same, nothing ever changed.

"Sir, the telephone." Jarvis spoke again, and Tony walked casually over to the phone and picked it up.

"Stark speaking.." He said into the phone, taking another swig of his Pepsi.

* * *

"I want all eyes on that warehouse. Every CCTV camera.. the lot. I want ears too." Fury barked at timid Agents running around, collecting files and depositing them in the flurry of the latest event. "And for God sake get Coulson to hurry up."

The fire at the warehouse had caused an uproar on the Helicarrier. People were panicking, even the cleaners. Only the higher Agents knew what was in that warehouse, and even Fury himself was unsure of half of the contents. Even so, everyone knew that whatever was in there, it wasn't to be meddled with.

"Coulson's on the way back with Widow and Hawkeye." An Agent piped up from amidst the crowd. Fury sighed a sigh of relief as he walked to the closest window.

The Helicarrier was positioned on the outskirts of the Sahara Desert, and little east smoke was billowing into the cold starry sky. The warehouse itself stood in a little settlement, with just fifty small shacks where people lived, it was cared for by the people of the village. In return Shield offered money, food and drinks. Not many people knew about the warehouse. Part of the agreement that Shield had with the villagers was that the warehouse was to be kept a secret. Now it looked like it was on fire. Shield hadn't had any interest in the warehouse for nearly fifteen years, and it sat almost discarded.

"What are we dealing with here?" Maria asked, walking over to Fury, crossing her arms and staring out of the window too, frowning as red flames attempted to reach the sky.

"I don't know." Fury admitted grimly, shaking his head.

"What do you think caused the fire?" She quizzed, looking a Fury as he went back to staring out of the window.

"I don't know."

"It could have just been a gas leak.." Maria suggested hopefully, still eyeing Fury for any hint of a clue in that grim facial expression.

"We can but hope.."

**Hey, what do you think? This is hopefully going to be a sort of sequel to Problem with the Planet, if all goes to plan obviously. Let me know what you think, whether it's great and I should carry on, or whether it sucks and I should just shut up now. All response is good response, right?**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hang up."  
"What?"  
"Hang up the phone."  
"Why? Who is this?"  
"Just hang up. Pretend you're saying bye to me."  
"No. Who is this?"  
"Hang up."  
"Jarvis, trace this call."  
"Hang up."  
"Why?"  
"I have to go now. I've enjoyed this little chat. Oh and Tony, don't play with fire." The line went dead.  
Tony blinked as he scanned the screen, the call had come from a blocked number and Jarvis hadn't had time to trace the call. "What the hell was that?" Tony asked openly to the room.  
"It seems to be a prank call, sir." Jarvis replied.  
"That was a sucky prank call. Nothing rude in there at all!" Tony sighed as he threw the phone on to the sofa, where it got lodged in between two cushions. He himself sat down next to the phone, gulping down the Pepsi he was still holding as he thought. However, this tranquility was abruptly brought round to life again as Steve came charging into the room.  
"Fire. Shield. Now." Was all he said as he walked through one door and out of another, pink in the face and muttering inconsistently as he barked three words at Tony. Tony sighed and put down his Pepsi. It was going to be a long day.

His theory was soon proven to be that of truth as they arrived on the scene. Tony hovered for a few moments before dropping down onto the roof of the alight building.  
"Get off the roof," Steve barked in his ear, "you're going to bring the building down." Tony snorted.  
"It's already coming down. It's on fire." He pointed out as he wrenched open the fire escape. Several haggard men and woman wearing suits and clutching clipboards swarmed out. Black ash smearing their faces as they spluttered, swallowing in the New York air.  
"I'm going to take you down two at a time. So pair up." Tony ordered. He himself surprised himself at the authoritative tone in which he spoke. "You two first, c'mon."  
He was on the first and last pair now, and despite the flames that were now scorching the concrete walls through the windows, the building was still standing. As he drew closer however, getting ready to land a haul the two to their safety, the worst came.  
It started with the roof they were standing on begin to crumple in the middle. As this happened it fell into the fiery room below. A surge of smoke engulfed the roof top and was soon joined by fire, like tentacles trying to grasp the air.  
The two people ran frantically towards the edge of the rooftop, where Tony had just flown to. He balanced precariously on the ledge as the two people fell into his grasp. They were leaving the wreck. Flying away, slowly, calmly, out of reach from the flames.  
"All over now!" Tony said, reassuringly as the man and the woman looked at each other, fear still set deep into their eyes. "Guys, c'mon, you're alive, and you were just saved by Iron Man. I'd say that's a pretty cool day." Tony joked, but then they let go.  
It was like something from a film. These two innocent victims in a fire, and for some unknown reason, the grasp just slipped and they tumbled to their deaths.  
"Wait!" Tony yelled, putting on a surge of speed as he attempted to catch up with them. Neither the man nor the woman looked particularly troubled, as they fell into an abyss of smoke and fire. They were peaceful, they were calm, they expected it.  
"I told you not to play with fire." Tony jumped as the voice cut through his skull as the two people, still falling as if in slow motion, opened their mouths and spoke. Despite the roaring of the fire, and the whooshing of the wind in Tony's ears, he could still hear them loud and clear. The fire took them.  
Tony remained frozen in midair, before he himself started falling. He couldn't stop.  
Through the concrete roof, through a meeting room, through a canteen. It would all look perfectly normal, except the fact that the whole thing was on fire.  
"Crap, crap, crap..." Tony scorned as made a sharp right angle and went straight through the window, just in time to turn around and watch the building collapse. Not wanting to remain hovering, Tony scanned the street for Steve.  
"What the hell was that?!" Steve barked as Tony came to stand next to him and lifted up his mask.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Are you trying to get the building to collapse on yourself?!" Steve scorned, Tony rolled his eyes. He couldn't be bothered with Steve right now, not after he watched two people die. "Did you get everyone?" Steve muttered, so that only Tony could hear. Tony looked at the floor and shook his head. "Tony..." Steve started to say, but Tony wasn't in the mood for his pep talks, so he took off into the sky.  
"Jarvis, who were those people?" Tony asked as he flew straight past Stark Tower, but it was okay because he knew where he was going.  
"The people who fell, sir?" Jarvis enquired.  
"No, my big toe. Who the hell do you think Jarvis?" Tony replied sarcastically. He had seen plenty of people die before, but when he was directly involved in it, and the people were innocent... That's when it really hit him.  
"The woman was Hannah Rose, she worked at Shield as an interrogator. In 2007 she became a field agent, after 3 years she stopped doing that an instead transferred to interrogation. The man, was James Scarlett. He worked in the IT department."  
Tony sighed as Jarvis stopped talking. Before he had left he'd told a police man two people had died, but of course he didn't know who they were then.

* * *

"What can you see?"  
"A burnt out warehouse."  
"Don't get funny." Fury ordered as Clint sighed a clambered over another blackened remnant of something.  
In front of him, he could see Natasha, stepping carefully over a crate. Her torch light was searching the area for anything.  
"I can't believe you even let her come." Clint half growled as Natasha turned and her slightly rounded belly was easily visible.  
"She wanted to. Besides, it's just exploring." Fury told him, and Clint rolled his eyes. He knew Fury had told Natasha not to come, but he also knew how stubborn she was. He doubted whether Fury had much say in the matter in the first place, wherever Clint went she went and vice versa. "I did try to stop her." Fury muttered.  
"Why did you bring her?" Clint scowled, he knew Fury couldn't hear him because they were talking over comms, but he knew his bitterness had registered in his voice.  
"She knows fires better than anyone." Was the reply Clint got from Fury. He sighed as he carried on working, because Fury was right, after all.  
They searched through the charred wreckage for what seemed like forever, before the comms crackled into life again.  
"There's been another fire in the New York Shield Headquarters. Pull out."  
Clint and Natasha met as they both manoeuvred their way towards the doorway (an open gap in the wall), and joined hands. "Hawk, Widow. Get out of the facility, now." Fury's voice spoke sharply over them, but they had no idea of the reason for the sudden urgency.  
Feeling slightly more pressured than before; Clint and Natasha both quickened their paces.  
The harsh light of the sun pierced their retinas as they reached the outside world, the sand dunes were shining from the sunlight and looked like golden mountain. But there was something behind it, set firmly into to back ground of the dessert, into the background of the hovering Helicarrier. A golden cloud.  
"Shit!" Clint swore loudly and acting upon instinct picked up Natasha and started to carry her, running towards the Quinjet they had ridden to the warehouse. The look on Natasha's face didn't look too impressed at being carried.  
They reached the Quinjet just as the sandstorm reached them, and they buckled down in their seats.  
"It's too windy to fly." Natasha cursed as she fumbled with the controls. Giving up, she slouched back down into her seat. "We can't do anything till this has gone down." She said, gesturing at the mass of sand pressing in on the window. Now they were in the storm, it looked like a muddy greyish brown rather than the glistening gold it had like in dune form.  
They sat for a good few minutes, watching the sand fog thin out from behind the window. Once it had dispersed, Natasha and Clint started messing with the controls again.  
"I wish you wouldn't come on these things." Clint sighed into the silence, Natasha raised an eyebrow.  
"Pardon?"  
"What with you being.." Clint trailed away. Natasha disguised the smirk.  
"Tony let's Pepper do stuff, and she's pregnant too."  
"Yeah but Pepper's not an Agent for Shield." Clint argued.  
"But she's in a relationship with Tony Stark, and I think that's more or less the same thing." Natasha laughed, leaning over and kissing Clint on the cheek. Just as she was pulling away, something caught her eye. "Clint." She muttered, tuning her head to gaze behind her.  
"What?" He too turned his head to see what Natasha was staring at.  
"Fire."

**I'm really sorry it's taken so long to post this. I've been kind of busy because it was my birthday! Go me! Anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed that chapter and I'm really sorry it took so long... Let me know what you think and how I can improve it.. :P**


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